Home Business in Wisconsin (2026)

Racine County requires a permit for home occupations, capping them at half a dwelling's floor area, two outside…

Appleton requires a home occupation permit for any home business run out of an attached or detached garage, filed with…

Running a home-based business in Ashwaubenon requires both the right zoning district and a permit. Section…

Beloit allows home occupations as an accessory use in any residential dwelling, but caps the business at 25% of the…

City Code § 315-10.C lets Burlington homeowners run a home occupation only inside the principal building, capped at 20%…

Home occupations in unincorporated Dane County are regulated through Chapter 10 (Zoning Ordinance). Agricultural…

De Pere splits home businesses into Type A, with no employees or customers visiting, and Type B, with one nonresident…

Fitchburg, Wisconsin lets residents run a limited vocational activity from a single-family home without a permit, but…

Green Bay allows home-based occupations like offices and crafts by right if they stay under 25% of the home's floor…

Kenosha County allows home occupations and professional home offices only in districts whose regulations list them as…

Little Chute allows small home-based businesses as a permitted accessory use in residential districts, capped at 30…

Madison lets residents run a home occupation inside their dwelling without a separate permit, but Sec. 28.151, MGO caps…

Marathon County lets a minor home occupation run in the dwelling without a permit, but requires a conditional use…

Middleton allows small home-based businesses in any dwelling as a Home Occupation, but caps the space at 20 percent of…

Milton's zoning ordinance lets residents run a home occupation inside their dwelling under City of Milton Code Sec…

Milwaukee caps home-based businesses in residential zoning at 25% of floor area, family-only staff, and no signage or…

Mosinee allows a home occupation as an accessory use in its residential districts, but only if it stays invisible from…

Neenah requires a home occupation permit from the Department of Community Development before running a business out of…

New Berlin allows home occupations as accessory uses in agricultural and residential districts, but only under detailed…

Outagamie County's AGD home-based business rule caps outside staff at two non-family employees and limits the operation…

In Rock County's unincorporated towns a home occupation is a conditional use, so a conditional use permit from the Plan…

Rothschild allows a home occupation as a permitted accessory use in its R-1 Single-Family Residential District, but…

Running a business from home in the City of Sun Prairie requires a special-use permit under Section 17.16.140(19)…

In the towns under Walworth County zoning, a minor home occupation or professional home office is a permitted accessory…

Waukesha allows home occupations and professional home offices in any residential district without a conditional use…

Waukesha County zoning allows home occupations and professional offices as accessory uses in residential districts when…

Wausau lets residents run a home-based business under Municipal Code § 23.03.28(4), but only inside the dwelling or…

Wauwatosa allows home occupations as an accessory use to a residential dwelling under Wauwatosa Municipal Code §…

West Allis requires a home-based business permit for any home business in a residential district, capping on-site…

Winnebago County zoning caps a major or minor home occupation at 25 percent of a dwelling's floor area and requires the…

Milwaukee bans any sign for a home-based business operating in a residential zoning district under the city's home…

Wausau bars any exterior sign or visible trace of a home-based business. Municipal Code § 23.03.28(4)(e) requires 'no…

Appleton limits a home occupation to a single non-illuminated wall sign no larger than two square feet, the only…

A home occupation in Beloit may display only one nameplate sign, capped at 2 square feet, and that sign must be…

Milton bars any exterior evidence of a home occupation, which functions as a no-signage rule for home-based businesses…

A home-based business in Sun Prairie may display exactly one name sign, capped at two square feet, and only after the…

Signage for home businesses in unincorporated Dane County is regulated through Chapter 10 zoning. Residential districts…

A home occupation sign in Fitchburg, Wisconsin cannot exceed three square feet and must be attached to the residential…

A home occupation in unincorporated Kenosha County gets one freestanding sign, capped at four square feet and eight…

Village of Little Chute home occupations may post only one sign naming the business, and that sign cannot be…

A home-based business in Outagamie County's AGD agricultural district may post just one sign, non-illuminated and no…

Racine County's home occupation rule allows exactly one nonilluminated nameplate for a home business: capped at two…

Rock County town zoning ordinances tightly limit business signage. A home occupation, kept incidental to the residence…

Walworth County limits signage for a minor home occupation or professional home office to two square feet total…

Home occupations and home offices in Waukesha may display exactly one sign: unlighted, no larger than one square foot…

In the unincorporated towns of Waukesha County, a home-based business is limited to a nameplate no larger than three…

A home occupation in Ashwaubenon can't show any outward sign of the business, with one exception. Section…

A Green Bay home-based occupation may post a nameplate identifying the business, but only as an exempt sign capped at…

Kenosha limits a home occupation's on-site identification to a single flush-mounted, nonilluminated nameplate under…

Madison restricts home-business signage to almost nothing: Sec. 28.151(l), MGO says the only exterior sign a home…

Marathon County caps home occupation and home professional business signage at one sign, with no other outward evidence…

Neenah's home occupation rules cap business signage to one nonilluminated sign attached to the dwelling, no larger than…

Walworth County lets residents run a minor home occupation from their house but bans anything that draws customers to…

Unincorporated Waukesha County towns bar a Home Occupation from conducting any retail or wholesale business on the…

Appleton caps home occupation client traffic at ten visits a day with no more than two clients on site at once, and…

Ashwaubenon caps how much vehicle traffic a home-based business can generate. Section 17-4-400(C)(1)(g)(ii) bars a home…

Beloit's home occupation rules cap client visits to a home business at 12 people per day and limit those visits to the…

Burlington's home occupation rules cap traffic and set fixed customer hours. City Code § 315-10.C(8) bars…

A Type B home occupation in De Pere can have either customers or a nonresident employee, never both. Section…

Fitchburg, Wisconsin allows home-based limited vocational activities without a permit, but City Code § 22-55(2)(e) caps…

Green Bay caps a home-based service occupation at two client parties at a time, with a party defined as one client, a…

Kenosha County controls home-business traffic through vehicle and group-size caps rather than a stand-alone visitor…

Madison's home occupation standard keeps client-facing activity minimal: no on-site wholesaling, manufacturing…

A Middleton Home Occupation cannot see more than two clients at any one time, and neither clients nor non-resident…

Milton limits in-person sales at a home occupation to by-appointment clients only, under City of Milton Code Sec…

Milwaukee home occupations can't generate traffic or parking demand beyond what a normal dwelling produces, capping…

Neenah limits home-based businesses to one extra vehicle of traffic or parking at a time and requires one off-street…

New Berlin restricts when a licensed home occupation can see customers. Under City Code § 275-42 J(1)(l), no home…

A home-based business in Outagamie County's AGD agricultural district can't generate more traffic than would normally…

A home occupation in unincorporated Racine County can't require more than two extra off-street parking spaces for…

Sun Prairie caps client traffic at a home-based business rather than banning walk-in customers outright. Under Section…

A Waukesha home business cannot noticeably increase traffic in a residential neighborhood, and any parking the business…

Wausau caps home-based businesses at two clients on site at any given time, and bars client visits between 8:00 p.m…

Wauwatosa caps every home occupation at three people on site at once, including the resident owner. Under Wauwatosa…

West Allis caps home-based businesses at one client on-site at a time and four client visits per day, by appointment…

Marathon County restricts traffic and parking generated by a home occupation or home professional business to no more…

Home occupation customer traffic standards in unincorporated Dane County vary by zoning district. Rural and…

Wisconsin has only one cottage food exemption written into its statutes, and it is narrow. Wis. Stat. § 97.29(2)(b)2…

Milwaukee County does not regulate cottage food. Selling homemade foods is governed by Wisconsin state law and DATCP…

Wisconsin lets home producers sell non-hazardous baked goods directly to consumers without a license (the 2017 Kivirist…

Wisconsin, not Waukesha County, sets cottage-food rules. Non-hazardous home baked goods may be sold direct to consumers…

Wisconsin has never created a microenterprise home kitchen permit, and it has no exemption that lets you cook meals in…

Wisconsin requires state licensing or certification for any home caring for four or more unrelated children. The…

Home daycare in Milwaukee is licensed by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. Family daycare (up to 8…

Milwaukee County does not license home daycare. Wisconsin's Department of Children and Families licenses providers…

In the Village of Little Chute's RC single-family district, a day nursery or kindergarten serving five or more…

Appleton allows family child care for up to eight children as a permitted use in every residential district, from AG…

Ashwaubenon treats home daycare two different ways. Licensed daycare and home-care operations are listed as an…

Dane County's zoning ordinance defines a "day care center" as any place or home caring for nine or more children under…

De Pere's zoning ordinance defines a family day care home as a licensed use for 8 or fewer children under age 7…

Fitchburg treats small home day cares as a by-right vocational activity, but once the number of children in custodial…

Kenosha County treats family day care serving eight or fewer children or adults as an automatically permitted home…

Madison family daycare homes (up to 8 children) are allowed as a home occupation in residential zones with state…

Marathon County zoning treats home daycare separately from home businesses: a Type A Day Care Home covers four to eight…

Every day care center or nursery in the City of Mosinee, including one run from a home, answers to the board of health…

Family child care homes are a permitted use in Outagamie County's RSF residential district but need a special exception…

A licensed home daycare in the City of Sun Prairie is a zoned land use, not just a state license. Section 17.16.140(21)…

Wisconsin, not Waukesha County, licenses in-home child care. Under Wis. Stat. 48.65, anyone caring for four or more…

Wausau zoning allows licensed in-home daycare for four to eight children as an accessory use permitted by right in…

Wauwatosa allows a home-based day care serving up to 8 children or adults as a permitted, by-right accessory use in…

West Allis permits family child care homes as an accessory use in residential and select commercial districts, but only…

Burlington lists a family day-care home as a permitted use, not a conditional use, in its Rs-1, Rs-2, Rs-3 and TN-R…

Middleton allows a licensed operator to run an in-home daycare for four to eight children as an accessory use in any…

Family daycare homes caring for up to eight children are a permitted, by-right use in every Green Bay residential…

Neenah zoning allows a family day care home, a licensed home serving four to eight children, as a permitted use in the…

Licensed family day care homes are a permitted use in unincorporated Racine County wherever single-family or two-family…

Waukesha treats a state-licensed Family Day Care Home caring for up to eight children as a permitted principal use in…

Winnebago County zoning treats a family day care home for 4 to 8 children as an accessory residential use, permitted by…